SPOTLIGHT: Cole Hall plan sparks debate

Aaron Chambers

Friday

Feb 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 29, 2008 at 1:12 PM

Northern Illinois University trustees said last week it was too early to consider the future of Cole Hall, where a gunman killed five students before killing himself. But NIU President John Peters was in the meantime cultivating an urgent plan. He made a surprise announcement on Wednesday, saying Cole Hall must be demolished immediately. The decision is drawing criticism from everyone from state legislators to average citizens.

Northern Illinois University trustees said last week it was too early to consider the future of Cole Hall, where a gunman killed five students before killing himself.

But NIU President John Peters was cultivating an urgent plan in the meantime. He made an announcement Wednesday, saying Cole Hall must be demolished immediately.

He teamed with Gov. Rod Blagojevich and called on lawmakers to find $40 million to raze the building and replace it with another at a nearby campus location.

“I’m the president of Northern Illinois (University) and I made this judgment,” Peters said Thursday. “I realize that the state is in tough economic times and so forth, but this is my real need.”

Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, called it a “premature and emotional” response.

“The idea that some gunman can cause this kind of disruption to a campus is giving too much weight to his actions and almost making him a hero because he brought a new campus building,” Winters said.

Change of plans

Peters said NIU leaders have long wanted to replace Stevens Hall, another antiquated building, but were waiting for the state to adopt a new capital plan.

But once it was clear to him that students couldn’t return to the site of the horrifying shooting spree, he said, he decided to replace Cole Hall instead.

“I realized that certainly, in the intermediate term, Cole Hall could not be opened for classroom use and probably, most likely, it would never be used for classroom purposes,” he said. “That was two reactions: It was a reaction to the scene, and what it would mean to our students currently and in the future, and just the inadequacies of that building.”

Peters said the plan evolved during his conversations with Blagojevich, who has visited NIU three times since the Feb. 14 shootings.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said Peters initiated the plan, to which Blagojevich was receptive.

“He fully supported their idea, and we talked with the university and the local lawmakers on Tuesday to finalize plans to pursue funding for the project,” she said, adding that NIU pushed to make the announcement on Wednesday.

Old, inflexible
Built in 1968, Cole Hall consists mostly of two 500-seat auditoriums. NIU officials said the seats are uncomfortable and the layout is inflexible.

The new building, tentatively called Memorial Hall, would have three 250-seat auditoriums, plus classrooms.

Peters said it would be technologically modern, more flexible and more comfortable.

Different views

Two of the state’s top legislative leaders support the plan; the other two are reserving comment.

And while Sen. Brad Burzynski, R-Clare, and Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Sycamore — the two legislators whose districts include NIU — back the plan, other local lawmakers oppose it.

In the word of Rep. Chuck Jefferson, D-Rockford, they’re “baffled.”

“That is the most asinine proposal that I have ever heard,” said Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica. “This is the stupidest expenditure of money. If there is one thing this state is capable of, it is spending money foolishly.”

Others said perhaps the construction project could be part of a capital plan under consideration. Lawmakers last approved a major capital plan in 1999.

What it would cost
The state would borrow $40 million to finance the demolition and construction, under the NIU plan. But it’s unclear where the state — with a $750 million deficit and more than $3 billion in backlogged bills — would find the money to pay off the $40 million loan.

The total cost of the loan — financed over 25 years at 5 percent interest — would be $65.2 million, according to an analyst with the Legislature’s fiscal forecasting agency.

The first annual payment, due in the next fiscal year, would be $3.5 million, the analyst said. The annual bill would decline about $80,000 each year.

Ottenhoff brushed aside a question about revenue necessary to make the annual payments. She noted the state spends roughly $30 billion annually through its general fund, the central account for operating expenses.

“The debt on this project would be miniscule in relation to the budget,” she said.

The site of Cole Hall would be reserved for a memorial, perhaps green space or a monument. Peters said NIU would raise private funds to pay for it.

In the short term, NIU must deal with the loss of space at Cole Hall. The building proposed by Peters would not be ready for students until the spring of 2011, so NIU would need to modify its classroom arrangements for three years.

Roughly 10,000 students attending 150 classes had to be moved after the shootings, Peters said.

“As you moved people, it had a domino effect,” he said, since other students had to be moved to accommodate the Cole Hall students.

Register Star reporter Andrea Zimmermann contributed to this report.
Aaron Chambers can be reached at 217-782-2959 or achambers@rrstar.com.

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